Page:United States Statutes at Large Volume 123.djvu/430

 123STA T .4 1 0PUBLIC LA W 111 –5—FE B.1 7, 200 9‘ ‘ (E)labor or g a niz a t ion s, in c l ud ing S tat e labor f edera - tions and labor- m anagement initiati v es, re p resenting w or k ersint h e communit y; and ‘‘( F ) educational institutions, local educational agen- cies, or other training providers serving the community . ‘‘( 4 ) LEAD E NTI T Y . —T he term ‘lead entity ’ means— ‘‘( A ) an entity designated by the eligible partnership to be responsible for submitting a grant proposal under subsection (e) and serving as the eligible partnership’s fiscal agent in e x pending any Sector P artnership G rant awarded under this section; or ‘‘( B ) a State agency designated by the Governor of the State to carry out the responsibilities described in subparagraph (A). ‘‘( 5 )SE CR ETARY.—The term ‘Secretary’ means the Secretary of Labor. ‘‘( 6 ) TAR G ETED IND US TRY O R SECTOR.—The term ‘targeted industry or sector’ means the industry or sector represented by an eligible partnership. ‘‘(c) SECTOR PARTNERS H I P GRANTS AUTHORI Z ED.—Beginning on August 1, 20 0 9 , and sub j ect to the appropriation of funds, the Secretary shall award Sector Partnership Grants to eligible partner- ships to assist the eligible partnerships in carrying out projects, over periods of not more than 3 years, to strengthen and revitalize industries and sectors and create employment opportunities for dislocated workers. ‘‘(d) U SEO F SECTOR PARTNERSHIP GRANTS.—An eligible partner- ship may use a Sector Partnership Grant to carry out any project that the Secretary determines will further the purpose of this subchapter, which may include— ‘‘(1) identifying the skill needs of the targeted industry or sector and any gaps in the available supply of skilled workers in the community impacted by trade, and developing strategies for filling the gaps, including by— ‘‘(A) developing systems to better link firms in the targeted industry or sector to available skilled workers; ‘‘(B) helping firms in the targeted industry or sector to obtain access to new sources of q ualified job applicants; ‘‘( C ) retraining dislocated and incumbent workers; or ‘‘( D ) facilitating the training of new skilled workers by aligning the instruction provided by local suppliers of education and training services with the needs of the tar- geted industry or sector; ‘‘(2) analyzing the skills and education levels of dislocated and incumbent workers and developing training to address skill gaps that prevent such workers from obtaining jobs in the targeted industry or sector; ‘‘(3) helping firms, especially small- and medium-sized firms, in the targeted industry or sector increase their produc- tivity and the productivity of their workers; ‘‘(4) helping such firms retain incumbent workers; ‘‘(5) developing learning consortia of small- and medium- sized firms in the targeted industry or sector with similar training needs to enable the firms to combine their purchases of training services, and thereby lower their training costs; ‘‘(6) providing information and outreach activities to firms in the targeted industry or sector regarding the activities of Ef f ectiv e da te .